A Lot of That or All of This?
by Kaz McDonell Miller
Summary: Sheena is Successor of her village, and everything's flowing smoothly until a crazed scientist wants to use her for extreme elemental research! Who's going to rescue her from her fate?


**a/n:** started march 18, 2005. this fanfic is post-game. mysterious assassin is almost the chief of her village and the chosen of mana of tethe'alla is no longer… the chosen of mana. sheena's awesome. and as for zelos? well, i just love zelos. i've gotta say, he's my most favorite character in tales of symphonia. he's awesome. and then there's lloyd. anywho, i really like the relationship between zelos and sheena and i'd be in my left mind to not elaborate. thank you for fanfiction. this will be undoubtedly sheena x zelos, or as you people call it, "sheelos". this was written mainly for fun… real no-brainer… but who knows, people may want more. :3 if you do, you may tell me so! also, if you have any handy criticism to give me, i'd be glad to hear it whether its via review or email.

**disclaimer:** zelos wilder and shihna fujibayashi are © namco, ltd. story written by me.

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_I've been taught that the Igaguri style condones that love is always to be conducted in secret!  
Argh! …What's with you people and your secrecy!…_

**a lot of that or all of this?**  
_written by: sylenis_

chapter 1: a more than worthy treasure

"Of all days to feel sick... ugh." Sheena Fujibayashi mumbled to herself, rolling over in her bed. The Successor of Mizuho, downed by a measly summer's cold. The day before, Kuchinawa had sent a letter via raven to her saying that he was finally ready to come back to Mizuho. It made her feel very happy… Kuchinawa was nagging at her guiltily in the back of her head, especially after her last duel with him. She'd been thinking about him ever since he left. He wanted to commit haikiri, and she was devastated at the idea. Her companion, Lloyd Irving had convinced him that death was simply pointless, and Sheena felt eternally grateful to the straightforward Sylvarantian boy. She always wished that she could be outspoken as him when it came down to how she felt about things, but she could never be that way.

It just wasn't like her.

She felt almost feverish, hoping that it didn't progress worse… like into the flu or something. The rays of sunlight peered through the curtains of her hut, and she already heard some of the villagers conversing outside. She smiled a little to herself, knowing the few days ahead of her would be great ones. The final preparations for the move to Sylvarant side of the now joined world, the revival of Chief Igaguri—her grandfather after he was in a twelve-year coma and Kuchinawa's return brought a lot of life to the village. The move to Sylvarant wasn't initially for a good reason, but the whole ordeal excited most of the villagers. They were due for a new experience. Maybe there, they could shamelessly expand their horizons…

Oh, please.

"Sheena!" cried one of the little girls outside, peeking through her window. "Sheena! Someone is here to see you!"

"Hmm… what? Who is it?" she asked, sitting up. She felt rather groggy. "Tell that person I'll be out soon. I've gotta freshen up," Sheena sighed, tying her hair up.

"Okay!" the girl giggled, running away. Sheena wondered who it could be as she brushed her teeth and washed her face. She had to be presentable, anyway. Maybe it was Lloyd? She put on her crimson successor's jumpsuit, smiling. It always made her feel proud. Overcoming her fear of Volt made her feel nearly indestructible.

Sheena finally finished readying herself after being in bed all day. She didn't realize how late she'd woken up and was very surprised she wasn't disciplined for it. She was ill after all, so she couldn't help it. One of the Mizuho guards led her to the entrance of the village where she met up with a scientist in a lab coat. It was slightly breezy outside and the sky was turning orange. _Already sunset? Damn._ She inhaled deeply and coughed a little, shivering a little. It smelled as if it were about to rain, so she hoped this "meeting" would be held inside.

"Sheena Fujibayashi! I am Caden Harley, from the Elemental Research Academy over at Meltokio. We have a few important matters to discuss. You were the best person we could come to!"

"Wait, how did you…"

"We'll speak of the details outside. Please, let us leave the village."

"Uh… okay."

Sheena re-introduced herself to the strange person who happened to already know her name. She'd never seen him around before, so some of his other fellow scientists must have told him about her. They shook hands, and Harley started to explain about a new possibly theory dealing with Summon Spirits and how their power could actually be transfused as mana so that the problem of the worlds ever splitting apart again would simply be unheard of. The idea in itself was great, but she wasn't so sure the Summon Spirits would agree to be kept isolated forever, just to have their energy drained daily. She thought of Corrine…

"I'm not so sure they'd like it, Mr. Harley. I'm sorry, but I can't help you. They're with me because I formed a pact and vowed with them. I don't want to take advantage of their trust in me like that."

"Well, you do realize you've just made things difficult on yourself, correct?" Harley said, a rather annoyed expression crossing his face.

"What are you talking about?"

"If you do not let me carry out with the experiment, I will destroy your entire village. It can easily be engulfed by flames and I'm sure you don't want that to happen…"

"What! What the hell are you talking about?" Sheena growled, stepping up to him. He pulled out a miniature grenade. "And what do you expect that itty bitty thing to do?"

"Big things come in little packages!" he roared, turning around to launch the bomb.

"NO!" Sheena screamed, pulling his arm back. She'd bent it irregularly, making him yelp in pain. She was this close to summoning Undine, the spirit of Water, but she realized that this simply might be a ploy just to get her to show the spirits!

"I'm not dumb, Harley!" Tiny droplets of rain started to fall on her face, and she kicked him in the knee.

"Gah! Why don't you just let me use one? This is for the benefit of mankind!"

"You know, we didn't struggle to bring the worlds together for nothing! Maybe you should have thought of it when the worlds were still apart!" She jumped back, ready to fight him. She inched herself towards the direction of Gaoracchia Forest, hoping she'd lure him. "On second thought… I think I can possibly summon one of them for you… but not in front of Mizuho."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Follow me." She said, thinking to herself about how much of a genius she is. "Light up your torch, you're gonna need it."

She led them to the heart of the musty forest, hoping he had a terrible sense of direction. Her intention was to get him lost and exit towards Sybak so that he could simply give up and leave.

"All right. I'm gonna summon Undine for you, right here."

"Excellent! I wonder if the properties of the Spirits of Sylvarant differ from those of Tethe'alla. Yes, yes please do." He said, trying so hard to contain his excitement. He was doing a terrible job at it. "But keep in mind, not only do I need the spirits… but I need _you_ as well." he said, rubbing his hands together. Sheena look at him, but decided not to object.

"Okay, fine. Here goes… I call upon the maiden of the mist—Serpent Seal!"

"Aah!" Harley grunted, falling backwards.

"That'll teach you to mess with me!" Sheena yelled, running away from the direction of Mizuho. If he doesn't go down easily, she has to at least get him away from her village. He got up pretty quickly, and took heel after her. Darn. Sheena ran as fast as she could, ignoring the water that was dripping from her hair and into her eyes. "Gotta get out, gotta get out…"

"Ugh!" Sheena tripped over a sharp piece of granite, scraping her knee and landing face first into the mud. "Why doesn't that freak just leave me alone?" Sheena gritted through her teeth, frustrated at it all. She couldn't believe this! This wacko from the Elemental Research Academy chased her out of her own village, just to observe and study the Summon Spirits. His actual wishes were to take her to his laboratory and perform tests on her! She remembered Corrine, and how much he hated being experimented on… she never exactly understood his feelings, but at the moment, she was startle to feel a trickle of the hate he had so much. She fought tears that started forced their way up and swallowed. She got up, almost falling down immediately when her left knee gave way. "Oww..."

"My darling Summoner! I need you! I need you immediately!" screamed that freak of nature, whose torch was starting to go out. She started to feel heavy drops of water pelt through her clothes and into her scalp, and she cursed, her head throbbing. Her knee started bleeding, making her realize that she was in actual pain. What a klutz, to fall over like that. She chuckled lightly to herself, remembering her former companion Colette's lucky misfortune. She was almost at the end of Gaoracchia Forest, and the moldy wet smell of her surroundings was making her feel a bit nauseous. Okay, rather _very_ nauseous. Sheena was already ill, and she really didn't think she could feel any worse. She took in deep breaths, getting tired from all that running...

"I... can't run anymore..." her attention quickly shifted to the coming footsteps of the crazed scientist, who was slowing down to catch his breath.

"Why... don't you just stay still! Arrgh!" he started towards her again and Sheena growled, whipping out her last source of defense... lucky she was agile because she turned around immediately and—

"Pyre Seal!"

"GAH!" he screamed once again, falling back with amazing force straight into the living bushes. They entangled him and it seemed almost impossible to escape. He yelled in frustration, starting to muffle out. Sheena despite her injury, hurriedly started off again, the end of the forest was so close! But where would she go? To Sybak? Argh. She's had enough obsessed intellectual skitzos for one day.

"…eena!"

She started to stumble, everything in a blur. She heard something, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from. Trying to find her balance, she looked about, but it didn't help the fact that everything was spinning like mad. Someone was approaching her, and she tried to be on her guard, but…

"This really... oh..." Sheena fainted and fell forward, everything from pink, white and gold going pitch black. The last thing she felt was a painful blow to the side of her head and a really cold puddle soaking her clothing. She couldn't move...

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"Sheena! You're alive!" he wiped away a bit of her slicked raven hair out of her eyes as she started to cough, her face scrunched up in agony and disgust. Her mouth tasted of mud. "Took ya a little bit to come to." The voice she heard sounded very familiar... however it was anything but reassuring. Who was this? He felt pretty strong as he supported her, keeping her dry under a small hollow on the edge of the mountains. She heard the rain tapping heavily against the blades of grass right outside, and saw wild, unmistakable red hair...

"Oh crap, it's you!" Sheena shrieked, thinking she'd just woken up from a nightmare. Unfortunately... She didn't.

"Well, I most certainly feel appreciated. You're very welcome!" Zelos Wilder, former Chosen of Tethe'alla looked at her smugly, as he held her. "What the heck happened back there? You're hurt!" he exclaimed before he pointed out her soaked gi. "And wet!" he smiled suggestively. She glared at him, coming up with an excuse as for why she was out there in the rain.

"It's nothing, okay? I-I was... looking for something and I fell." her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness. She saw his undoubtedly beautiful visage, and his blue eyes were staring straight into her. She shivered a little, but it wasn't because she was cold. She was annoyed at the fact that she was found in such an awkward situation. "What about you? Shouldn't you be in Meltokio being dry or something?"

"Not when one of my hunnies is in danger! I happened to have to look for something, too," He mumbled hastily. "C'mon, we've got to get you home."

Not questioning what he was looking for, Sheena only assumed that when he said "home", she meant Mizuho. Wrong. "Thanks, Zelos. You're at least helpful for something," she said, wringing out her hair even though it was going to be soaked with rain again. She then noticed that Zelos was heading the very opposite direction, though…

"H-hey… where are you taking me? It had better not be Meltokio!" she growled menacingly as Zelos lifted her up with ease, and slung her over his shoulder. He was walking towards the direction of the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge and he had no intention of turning around. How she loathed Meltokio. Everyone there was so uppity and high-nosed—it made her sick. She couldn't stand the gaudiness of the nobles' appearance and attitude. Chances are, they thought the very same of her as she did them.

"My sweet violent demonic banshee, there's no way I'm going through that creepy-as-hell forest, especially in this weather." Zelos replied sternly. He looked back towards the forest and cringed, wiping some of his matted long hair out of his face.

"And going down that treacherously long bridge is gonna be any better? No thank you." She hopped out of his arms, wiped her eyes and fell immediately. "Ouch!" she cursed, frowning at herself.

"See? You can't even walk, babe." Zelos grinned, seeing how helpless she was. "Just let me carry you over to Meltokio for one night. It won't hurt, I promise." He said, making the cross-my-heart gesture. "You need a doctor anyway, look at you. You look awful."

"Gee, thanks." She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Doesn't change the fact that you're one hot woman, though!"

"Zelos, please. I'm not exactly in the mood to be hit on at the moment." Sheena scowled. "Don't you have your Rheaird on you, at least? I want to go back to Mizuho. I can't just leave—everyone's gonna be worried about me. I have a lot of important things to do, you know." She said, trying her best to sound professional and all that jazz.

"But you left to 'find something', didn't you?" Zelos asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Um, I…"

"Aww! That's it! You came to see me!" he swooped her up into the moist air once more, embracing her in a soaking wet hug. "I knew you'd miss me one way or another!"

"Eww, no way Zelos! In your dreams." She coughed as she pushed him away, struggling to get down. She'd never really realized how good he smelled. It was almost intoxicating. At the moment, she felt like she could just stay in his arms… but she couldn't. She was soon-to-be Chief of Mizuho. Chiefs don't go weak-kneed at pretentious philanderers. Even if their knee is messed up.

"But I rescued you!" he whined, looking hurt. "You could have died out there, and this is the thanks I get?"

"Because, I don't think that's why you want to bring me to Meltokio."

"Why then?" he challenged.

"You know well why," Sheena started, and began to cough again.

"You're sick! See? Now I have more reasons than one to bring you back home." Zelos grinned, swooped her up easily, and continued to walk.

"'More reasons than one'? What's that supposed to mean? Zelos! This isn't funny! Is the forest really that bad? I mean you're gonna get really tired on that bridge! That's like a two-hour hike! There's thunder out here you know! We could get struck at any moment! What if you fall into a mudhole? It's so dark, how the heck can you see where you're going? Why aren't you listening to me!"

About fifty-six questions later, Zelos was already at the gates of the Meltokio Kingdom and set Sheena down. She almost felt dumbfounded at the fact that he didn't answer to any of her ramblings on the journey; he just walked.

"So, my sexy foreigner… do you think you'll be able to walk right now? My mansion isn't so far and I want to see if you've recovered a little." Zelos looked at her, his arms folded across his chest. Sheena shivered, and realized she could stand, but her knee was still in a bit of pain. "Yeah. I'm fine. Since we're here, I guess it wouldn't hurt…" she sighed. Though, she couldn't really understand why she was so anxious to get inside his house. It was because of the weather. Yeah, only the weather.

"All right. Let's go to my house and I'll have Sebastian prepare a nice bath for you. I'll take care of that nasty gash on your knee," he said, pointing at it.

"What a way to make me feel at home." she replied bitterly, only feeling a little grateful.

"You're welcome." Zelos smiled widely at her, making her heart go a flutter. She felt herself start to blush and looked down immediately, pretending to rub her nose. _ She's really cute when she's helpless. I guess there is definitely more to her than meets the eye._ Zelos thought to himself, also wondering why she piqued his interest more than the many wondrous females of the world. She was the only girl that could drive him insane (of course he would always keep his cool) but yet…

"C'mon, c'mon let's go. I'm not feeling too well." Sheena pouted, interrupting his train of thought.

"But of course, my voluptuous sweetie! I don't think the rain could fall any harder than it could now."

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"Zelos." Sheena uttered seriously, staring straight though his soul.

It was a little after midnight, and Zelos was trying to convince Sheena how good it would be to share a bed. She needed to be kept warm after all. She hardly let him finish his propositions, and she always answered with a straight "no". He tried to touch her without her noticing and got a few welts from his failed attempts… but eventually, even the Great Zelos started to get rather sleepy.

…But he wasn't done yet.

"Fine, fine... I'll go sleep downstairs." Zelos sighed sadly, looking out the corner of his eye. Sheena just sat there, in the very same position she'd been in since she arrived at his home. Her arms were crossed across her chest, and she had the meanest scowl a human could ever have. She didn't move an inch. She said nothing.

"In my own home..."

"..."

"With no blanket..."

"..."

"With my only bed—"

"Oh, will you just go already!" Sheena snapped, losing her cool. She immediately bit her lower lip, and sighed. "I-I mean... just... please, leave me alone." she sighed, clutching her knees. Zelos shrugged his shoulders, trying to brush off the hurt expression he felt form on his face. "Whatever you want, then." he mumbled, obviously disappointed. He slowly stepped out and closed the door gently. She heard descending footsteps, and let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Good night!" he called out.

"'Night." For some reason, Sheena felt the need to treat Zelos' feelings a bit more carefully, especially when he gave her that scare a few months ago back at the grounds of Derris-Kharlan. Never had she imagined that she would have—might have—could have lost him so fast but... why in the land of hell did she feel attached to him in the first place! He was a slimy, cocky philanderer. The most sincere thing he did to date was to bandage her now hurting knee. She must have hit her head early in her life or something—either that, or she had a rather strange preference for men. If airhead Lloyd could make her feel a bit funny at times...

Sheena berated herself. "Note to self... get a check up. I have to be psycho." she sneezed as she lay back down in her bed, taking deep breaths. "Just relax." She smiled, feeling grateful for the comfort of the bed. "Just stop thinking about him, remember about Mizuho and I'll be a-ok." Her eyelids fell, and she was fast asleep. Nice thoughts of dreamland were occupying her mind when suddenly...

"I brought in some hot lemon tea for you, my sweet well-endowed hunny!" Zelos yelped excitedly, as he kicked the door open with tremendous force. He smiled broadly, holding a tray with two cups of tea on it. The door swung fast, and Sheena jumped up severely startled, hitting her head on one of the bed's canopy poles.

"OUCH! ZELOS!" she yelled, as she instinctively threw a vase at him. It crashed and hit him square in the head and the tray flew into the air, coming back down with a vengeance... right onto his pants.

"YEEOWCH!"

Sebastian heard the commotion from above downstairs in his room, and rolled out of bed, dusting himself. "Who in the name of Martel could Master Zelos be torturing at this ungodly hour?" He absentmindedly trotted upstairs with his teddy bear in hand, with his starred nightcap still on his head. He saw a frantic ants-in-your-pants Zelos hopping about, whining like a little girl while his guest, an angry native of Mizuho was yelling accusations and obscenities at him.

"I know you're only coming up here for one reason, and I'm sure it's anything but tea!" Sheena fumed, shaking a bit uncontrollably. She was very embarrassed that she hit her head with Zelos witnessing it, and it was throbbing with pain—if Zelos wasn't hurting himself, he surely would have been laughing at her.

"Master Zelos... is something wrong?" Sebastian asked, feeling a little weirded out. Zelos flinched as the liquid started to get cool and waved him off. "No no, Sebastian. Everything's fine." Zelos twitched, his eyes drifting to the bright blue teddy. "What's with the bear?"

"Nothing, sir." Sebastian replied bluntly. "Good night Master Zelos, Miss Sheena." And with that he was off.

They both stood there awkwardly, Zelos feeling rather embarrassed himself. He shuffled his feet, trying very hard to ignore the huge wet spot that started soaking into his skin. "Well, so much for trying to make you feel better!"

"In what way?" She replied, thinking of how perverted she sounded. _Maybe he actually had good intentions!_ she thought. Why do I keep thinking about _that?_ "Zelos, geez... I'm sorry. Didn't mean for all that to happen." Sheena sighed heavily, rubbing her temples.

"Right. I've... gotta change my clothes. But, you're in my room... all my pajamas are in here. As is as my bathroom."

"...Oh." Sheena continued to stand there, oblivious to Zelos' hints. He cocked his head to the side, and smiled at her mischievously, wondering if she really didn't mind seeing him change. "I take it you wanna see the glory that is my naked body, huh Sheena?" he asked slyly, trying not to fall out into laughter.

"Wh-what! O-of course not!" she stammered, making a fist. She felt herself blush like crazy, but that was one thing she couldn't stop! Zelos' amused and suggestive look teased her badly. I mean, she though about it... no! She shook her head furiously, trying to calm her emotions. Naturally she would've hit him, but she held back. "Ugh, you're sick! I'll gladly sleep downstairs tonight, t-h-a-n-k-y-o-u!" she stomped out right past him, heading down the stairs.

"No, wait!" he whined as he ran to catch her, but he tripped over the tea tray that fell earlier, grabbing her pants and pulling them down in the process as he landed face first into the ground. "Whoa!" Sheena's eyes widened and she immediately kicked him dead in the face.

"Ouch!"

"You idiot!" she hissed, trying not to wake Sebastian. "Don't you EVER give up! I can't ...I can't!" she cried as she hastily pulled up her pants, glaring down at him. "I can't stand you sometimes...!"

"What is your problem!" screeched a bloody-nosed Zelos as he looked up helplessly. "It was an accident, I swear!"

"Here am I trying to be nice to you and you're going the extra mile just to have your way with me!"

"You call yourself _nice_!" he exclaimed, as he wiped his nose on his sleeve. The last few words she said just registered with him. "When did I?... What are you talking about? If anything, I'm trying a lot harder to control myself, Sheena. It's not everyday I get a hot, voluptuous and soaking wet hunny at my door in the middle of the night. If I weren't trying to restrict myself, I would have had my way with you long time ago!" Sheena twitched as she scowled at him, wondering if he realized how lucky he was to still have his life.

"I never _was_ at your door. _You_ brought—or rather—forced me here." She growled through gritted teeth.

"Dammit, I couldn't just leave you out there, Sheena! What would that make me?"

"You cretin." she snarled, and continued down the stairs, furious. Zelos grumbled to himself about how there always had to be that one bad apple, and headed to his room to change his caffineated clothes. She settled herself onto one of the sofas, snuggling against it. The leather was pretty cold, but it was much better than being around Zelos. For a split second though, she really did wonder how warm his body would feel against hers, but she shook out the thought. _Too gross._ That body's been everywhere but near her. She planned to keep it that way. They didn't speak a word to each other after the incident. It took her long enough, but she finally gave in to angry sleep, snoring away lightly.

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**a/n:** it's funny how i tend to not notify my readers of what's going to happen in the next chapter(s). well, uh let's see! firstly, i want to thank my reviewers for reading up on this story. chapter two will be up soon! i just updated this first chapter again with a few minor revisions. this ended on a bitter note, i know! but everything will get happy!

...or will they? find out soon! runs away!


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